dots(5) [ultrix man page]

DOTS(5) 							File Formats Manual							   DOTS(5)

Name
       DOTS - Data Object Transport Syntax (DOTS) files

Description
       Data  Object  Transport	Syntax	(DOTS)	is  DDIS/ASN.1 encoding for encapsulating the encoded interchange form of a number of related data
       objects.  Data objects must be related by having embedded references to other objects in the same  DOTS	encapsulation.	 Typically,  these
       embedded  references depend on the storage address (for example, filename) of the referenced object.  Therefore, when the referenced object
       is moved from one location to another, the storage address must be updated.

       The purpose of DOTS is to allow composite data objects to be moved from one location to another as a single object and to allow the  neces-
       sary storage reference to be updated as part of the process.

       The  primary  use for DOTS is moving multifile compound documents in which one DDIF or DTIF file may have reference data stored in a physi-
       cally separate file.  Mail is a major vehicle for moving DOTS objects.

       The commands and are used to pack and unpack DDIF and DTIF files.  The commands can also be used to copy a related  set	of  DDIF  or  DTIF
       files, or both, from one location to another.

See Also
       ctod(1), dtoc(1), DDIF(5), DTIF(5), DDIS(5), CDA(5)

																	   DOTS(5)

ctod(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   ctod(1)

Name
       ctod - combine DDIS objects into DOTS format

Syntax
       ctod [ -x ] object.ddis

Description
       The  command  combines  a  DDIS encoded object into a Data Object Transport Syntax (DOTS) format, which is written to standard output.  The
       object may contain references to other DDIS files.  The purpose of is to create a single file from multiple references to other	files,	in
       order to transfer or move DDIS objects from one location to another.

       object.ddis  is a file name, or a minus sign (-) for standard input.  If a minus sign is specified, or if no file name is present, standard
       input is read.  The named object and its external references, if any, are combined into a DOTS data stream which  is  written  to  standard
       output.

       Because a DOTS stream contains binary data, output should be redirected to a file or a pipe.

Options
       -x   Specifies that is to DOTS encode the input file without resolving any external references present in the file.  This option is for use
	    only with files containing no external references.

Restrictions
       The only DDIS object types supported in this release are DDIF and DTIF.

Diagnostics
       The exit status is 0 if all files were combined successfully and 1 if any of the files could not be combined.  Consult `standard error'	to
       see what files failed, and why.

       If  the	-x  option  is	used  and contains any external references, returns an error status of 1, and writes an error message to `standard
       error'.

See Also
       dtoc(1), DDIS(5), DDIF(5), DTIF(5), DOTS(5)

																	   ctod(1)